Elias Acevedo, Sr., who lived on the same block as Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, has confessed to killing two women. He also faces multiple rape charges.

CLEVELAND — Increased scrutiny of missing person cases in a Cleveland neighborhood following the arrest of kidnapper Ariel Castro led to charges against a neighbor for the murders of two women in the 1990s, the FBI said.

Elias Acevedo, Sr., 49, was charged late Thursday with the kidnapping, rape and murder of his 30 year old neighbor, Pamela Pemberton, found strangled in 1994, and another woman believed to be Christina Adkins, a pregnant 18 year old who disappeared in 1995. He also is charged with the rape of two young girls.

"Because the public became more aware and investigators were determined and relentless, people were re-interviewed and there was an increased interest in these missing person cases," FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said Friday.

Acevedo, who lived on the same block as Castro, was arrested in June at his Seymour Avenue residence after police questioned Castro's neighbors and discovered that Acevedo was a convicted sex offender who had failed to report his current address.

Acevedo became a suspect in the Adkins and Pemberton murders after the FBI re-examined the disappearance of other missing women from the Seymour Avenue neighborhood in the aftermath of Castro's arrest, according to a statement from the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

Cleveland's Seymour Avenue garnered international attention after three women — Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus — were found with Berry's 6 year old daughter in a dilapidated home owned by 53 year old Castro. The women had been missing for about a decade; Castro had fathered the child.

While incarcerated, Acevedo's DNA was linked to a 1993 rape that occurred near the location where Pemberton's body was found. The FBI then linked Acevedo to the 1995 disappearance of Adkins, last seen in the vicinity of Seymour Avenue.

Acevedo has confessed to the murders, which means authorities will not seek the death penalty, according to Joe Frolik, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

Acevedo led authorities to a spot near a highway where he had put Adkins' body in a manhole 18 years ago, according to the FBI and prosecutors.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office is in the process of positively identifying what are believed to be Adkins' remains after her identification card was found nearby.

Castro pleaded guilty to 937 charges and was found hanged in his prison cell just a month into a life sentence. His death was ruled a suicide by the Franklin County coroner but an investigation into his death by prison officials has called into question whether he died accidentally while performing a sex act.

The indictment against Acevedo includes 115 kidnapping charges and more than 173 charges of rape involving Adkins, Pemberton and the repeated rapes over a period of months of two girls, starting when they were 8 and 11 years old. He was also charged in the 1993 rape of his brother's common-law wife.

"It is definitely bittersweet, you hate to give this news to the family, but, you hope it give them some closure," Anderson said.

Acevedo is scheduled to be arraigned in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court Monday. He has not yet been assigned a lawyer, according to court documents.

Acevedo is accused in the death of his neighbor, Pamela Pemberton, in October, 1994, and of another woman in 1995, identified as, "Jane Doe," in the indictment.

Prosecutors said they believe Acevedo is linked to the 1995 disappearance of Christina Adkins, who was 18 and pregnant when she vanished.

Last week, an FBI evidence team discovered human remains not far from where Pemberton's body was found. An identification card belonging to Adkins was found nearby, and the medical examiner's office is working to determine if the remains are hers.

Acevedo, a convicted sex offender, has also been indicted in a separate case as a result of a rape kit that was recently tested from a 1993 case, McGinty said.

Authorities have been reexamining the disappearances of other women in Cleveland, following the discovery of three women held captive for a decade in a Cleveland home.

"This should send a message to other sex offenders that you can run, but you cannot hide; and as a promise kept to survivors and their families, we will never forget, nor will we ever give up," McGinty said in a written statement.

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A man nabbed by Cleveland police because of the proximity of his house to the late serial rapist and kidnapper Ariel Castro pleaded guilty to murder and rape charges on Monday in connection with the killings of two women.

Elias Acevedo, Sr., was sentenced to 445 years in prison without parole for the murders of the women and multiple counts rape that date back as far as two decades, according to NBC affiliate, WKYC.

Acevedo became a suspect in the murders of Pamela Pemberton, 30, and Christina Adkins, 18, after detectives took a closer look at disappearances on Seymour Avenue following Ariel Castro's arrest for kidnapping and raping three women.

Acevedo, who lived doors away from Castro, pleaded not guilty in October to 293 counts, including 173 counts of rape and 115 counts of kidnapping.

On Monday, in a plea deal, Acevedo pleaded guilty to strangling Pemberton in 1994 and killing a pregnant Adkins the following year. Adkins' body was discovered in October.

Acevedo also pleaded guilty to multiple rape and kidnapping charges — some of them involving children, WKYC reported.

Elias Acevedo looks over to the prosecutors during his pretrial hearing, on December 2, 2013, in Cleveland.
Photo - Tony Dejak / AP file

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